Fans can finally stop holding their breath as Link’s adventure in a post-apocalyptic Hyrule will return on May 12, 2023. The game, which has been dubbed, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, will be a sequel to the Critically Acclaimed game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Many fans are rallying in excitement over the future of the game and the franchise as a whole. Even before Coming out, Tears of the Kingdom had already won two separate awards for its anticipation. Awarded the Most Wanted Game by the Golden Joystick Awards and the Most Anticipated Game at The Game Awards 2022.

The game will be a sequel to Breath of the Wild, which has been considered by many to be one of the greatest games in the series catalog, if not the best that Nintendo has made. Our beloved Hero, Link, once again has to reprise his role as the hero of Hyrule, except this time, he has amnesia. 

Link has to piece together his fragmented memory while stopping Ganon. The game revolutionized the franchise and brought it into a new era of open-world combat. Not only was it revolutionary for the franchise, but for open-world combat as well! By letting the players fight Ganon immediately after the tutorial, the creators gave nearly total freedom to the players’ Breath of the Wild was a somber but relaxing game in which players could explore a post-apocalyptic Hyrule that had suffered under Calamity Ganon’s wrath for a century. A prequel, The Legend of Zelda Hyrule Warriors, followed the game. Hyrule Warriors had separated itself from the rest of The Legend of Zelda titles by changing the slow strategic mechanics of the previous games and replacing them with an enthralling Hack and Slash Adventure. 

Many Fans will be pleased to know that the Director of Breath of Wild, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, reprises his role once again to direct Tears of the Kingdom, followed by long-time series Producer Eiji Aonuma. Fujibayashi had directed and Planned out many of the previous Zelda titles, Including Skyward sword and the Gameboy game Four Swords. Both of which are considered some of the best in the series. Eiji Aonuma has worked on the series since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Having served as a director, supervisor, and producer respectfully. So it’s safe to say that Tears of the Kingdom is in very good hands!

Players will be able to find the game on both the Nintendo store and store shelves on May 12, 2022. 

As for the game itself, not much is known about the actual gameplay or story, but various theories revolve around it. However, some details can be deduced based on what we know from Breath of the Wild and what the trailers have revealed.

In the gameplay trailer, we can see that most of the gameplay will have Link taking to the skies and exploring the floating Islands above Hyrule. The game will involve Link going into new dungeons and collecting the “Tears” that will aid him in his quest.

In the game’s trailers, a new mechanic allows Link to change the direction of his fall. Changing from links signature pencil dive to an arched position. Fans of the series speculate that this will tie into another mechanic, a platform shaped like an airplane that will allow players to fly above the skies of Hyrule. The biggest takeaway that most people have seen is Link himself. Link is seen to have a damaged arm from his battle with Calamity Ganon in Breath of the wild, which some players suspect will replace the Sheikah Plate.

Although the gameplay has many essential characteristics, the overall story appears much darker than any previous games in franchise history. Legend of Zelda is never afraid to discuss dark or even grim subject matter such as death and loss of a loved one, and some fans fear for the worst over the fate of the characters in the breath of the wild timeline.